Text 8: colonial legislatures

The present system of American government evolved from the first thirteen colonies founded along the eastern coast of North America between 1607 and 1733. Representative assemblies became firmly established in the colonies. The Virginia House of Burgesses, the first representative legislature in America, was established in 1619, only 12 years after the settlement of Jamestown. The newly elected lawmakers passed laws aiding farmers and curbing idleness, improper dress, and drunkenness. It was not long before other colonies set up their own legislatures. By the mid-1700s, some colonial legislatures had been operating for more than 100 years. As a result, representative government was an established tradition in America well before the colonists declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776.

The colonial legislatures dominated colonial government. The rapidly growing colonies constantly needed new laws to cope with new circumstances. For example, they had to control the distribution of land and construct public buildings and facilities such as roads, ferries, and wharves. The colonies also had to establish schools and new towns and establish civil and criminal courts.

These legislatures were examples of the consent of the governed because a large number of qualified people voted. Although there were property qualifications for voting, land was abundant and most colonists could afford property.

Colonial charters divided powers of government. The governor, as the agent of the monarch, carried out the monarch's orders. The governor also enforced the laws that the colonial legislature passed. This separation of powers continued under the United States Constitution, which allows Congress to pass laws and gives the President the power to enforce them.

TEXT 9: COLONIAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

A key feature of the colonial period in North America was government according to some type of written plan. The Mayflower Compact that the Pilgrims signed in 1620 stands as the first example of many colonial plans for self-government.

Forty-one men, representing all the Pilgrim families, drew up The Mayflower Compact in the tiny cabin of their ship, the Mayflower, which brought them to the New World. The Pilgrim leaders realized they needed rules to govern themselves if they were to survive in the new land. Through the Mayflower Compact, they agreed to choose their own leaders and to make their own laws, which they would design for their own benefit.

Beginning in 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Colony, settled by Puritans, added many towns to the original Plymouth settlement. In 1636, the colony realized a need for more comprehensive laws. It adopted the "Great Fundamentals,"* the first basic system of laws in the English Colonies.

In 1639 Puritans who had left the Massachusetts Bay Colony to colonize Connecticut drew up America's first formal constitution, or charter, called the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. This document laid out a plan for government that gave the people the right to elect the governor, judges, and representatives to make laws. While it was based on the Massachusetts model, it did not restrict voting rights to church members.

Soon after, other English colonies began drawing up their own charters. These documents established a system of limited government and rule by law in each of the colonies. Several of these colonial consti­tutions were very democratic for their time. The Rhode Island and Connecticut charters were so democratic that they continued to serve as state constitutions even after the adoption of the United States Constitution.

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*The Great Fundamentals — Великие Основы

TEXT 10: DEMOCRACY

A democracy is any system of government in which rule is by the people. The term democracy comes from the Greek demos (meaning "the people") and kratia (meaning "rule"). The ancient Greeks used the word democracy to mean government by the many in contrast to government by the few.

Pericles*, a great leader of ancient Athens, declared, "Our constitution is named a democracy because it is in the hands not of the few, but of the many." The key idea of democracy is that the people hold sovereign power. Abraham Lincoln best captured this spirit by describing democracy as "government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Democracy may take one of two basic forms. In a direct democracy, the people govern themselves by voting on issues individually as citizens. Direct democracy exists only in very small societies where citizens can actually meet regularly to discuss and decide key issues and problems. Direct democracy is still found in some New England town meetings and in some of the smaller states, called cantons of Switzerland. No country today, however, has a government based on direct democracy.

In indirect or representative democracy, the people elect representatives and give them the responsibility and power to make laws and conduct government. An assembly of the people's representatives may be called a council, a legislature, a congress, or a parliament. Representative democracy is practiced in cities, states, provinces, and countries where the population is too large to meet regularly in one place.

For most Americans today, the terms representative democracy, republic, and constitutional republic mean the same thing: a system of limited government where the people are the ultimate source of governmental power.

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*Pericles — ['perikli:z] — Перикл